Gazing Moon vs NTE vs Ananta: Which Urban Open-World Gacha is Right for You?

With the explosion of urban open-world anime RPGs in 2026, three titles are dominating the conversation: Neverness to Everness (NTE), Ananta, and the newly emerging Gazing Moon (望月). While they share similar visual styles and modern city settings, their core gameplay loops, combat systems, and world-building philosophies are vastly different.

This guide breaks down the key differences based on the June 2026 CBT and Guangzhou offline playtest.

World Setting and Atmosphere

Gazing Moon leans heavily into modern Chinese fantasy (国风幻想). The city of Tianyue (天月城) is inspired by real-world Guangzhou, featuring traditional elements like Qilou arcade houses and Wok-ear houses blended with modern skyscrapers. The game introduces a “Two Worlds” concept — the normal city and the chaotic dimension inside the “Doors of Law’s Embers.”

Neverness to Everness (NTE) focuses on a weird-city urban fantasy. The setting is highly modernized, built around anomalies, supernatural phenomena, and a slick, fast-paced city life. It feels closer to a contemporary metropolis with a darker, more mysterious undertone.

Ananta leans towards sci-fi and cyberpunk aesthetics. Its world is technologically advanced, focusing on futuristic combat gear, neon-lit streets, and a more dystopian narrative.

Core Gameplay Mechanics

The biggest differentiator for Gazing Moon is its Moon Spirit (月灵) system. Unlike NTE and Ananta, which focus entirely on gacha characters, Gazing Moon allows players to capture and tame creatures in the open world.

Feature	Gazing Moon	NTE	Ananta
Pet / Creature System	Yes — Moon Spirits for combat, puzzles, traversal	None	Limited (drones/mechs)
Traversal	Vehicles, wall-running, Moon Spirit flight	Polished driving, parkour	Hoverboards, grappling hooks
Combat Style	Real-time action + creature synergy	Fast-paced hack & slash	Tactical, gear-driven
World Interaction	High — physics-based puzzles, object manipulation	Medium — anomaly investigation	Medium — hacking, environmental hazards
Free-to-Play Progression	Strong — open-world creature capture	Standard gacha	Standard gacha

The Moon Spirit Advantage

Players from the Guangzhou playtest frequently compared Gazing Moon’s mechanics to a mix of Genshin Impact, Pokémon, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Moon Spirits serve three distinct roles:

• Combat: Command them in battle to create elemental reactions (e.g., combining Xun Wind with Shock Thunder)
• Exploration: Use a Wind-Chasing Salamander to glide across gaps or a Construction Cat to climb structures
• Puzzles: Deploy Construct Moon Spirits to manipulate machinery or move heavy objects

This depth of creature interaction is absent in both NTE and Ananta, giving Gazing Moon a distinct identity in the crowded urban gacha space.

Gacha System and Monetization

While exact rates for Gazing Moon’s global release are not finalized, the CBT indicates a standard character gacha system. However, the heavy emphasis on catching Moon Spirits in the open world provides a robust free-to-play progression path. A significant portion of player power comes from exploration rather than banner pulls alone — a meaningful difference from NTE and Ananta.

Which Should You Play?

Play Gazing Moon if you enjoy creature collection, physics-based puzzles, traditional Chinese aesthetics, and gameplay that rewards open-world exploration.

Play NTE if you prefer fast-paced action combat, weird-city mysteries, and a highly polished driving experience without the complexity of creature management.

Play Ananta if you are drawn to cyberpunk settings, sci-fi narratives, and tactical, gear-driven combat systems.

All three games are worth watching in 2026. Gazing Moon has demonstrated through its CBT and Guangzhou playtest that it has the unique mechanics needed to carve out its own space in the market.